The Scientist chords

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The Scientist | Chords + Lyrics

Intro (0:00)

||: Dm7 | Bb (Bbadd9) | F | Fsus2 :||

Verse 1 (0:30)

||: Dm7 | Bb | F | Fsus2 :||
Come up to meet you, tell you I’m sorry, you don’t know how lovely you are.
I had to find you, tell you I need you, tell you I set you apart.
Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions, oh let’s go back to the start.
Running in circles, coming up tails, heads on a science apart.

Chorus 1 (1:23)

| Bb | Bb | F | Fsus2 |
Nobody said it was easy, it’s such a shame for us to part.
| Bb | Bb | F | Fsus2 |
Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be this hard.
| C/G C6 | C7/G |
Oh, take me back to the start.

Instrumental 1 (1:56)

||: F | Bb (Bbadd9) | F | Fsus2 :||

Verse 2 (2:24)

||: Dm7 | Bb | F | Fsus2 :||
I was just guessing at numbers and figures, pulling the puzzles apart.
Questions of science, science, and progress, do not speak as loud as my heart.
But tell me you love me, come back and haunt me, oh and I rush to the start.
| Dm7 | Bb | F | Fsus2 C/E |
Running in circles, chasing our tails, coming back as we are.

Chorus 2 (3:18)

| Bb | Bb | F | Fsus2 |
Nobody said it was easy, oh it’s such a shame for us to part.
| Bb | Bb | F | Fsus2 |
Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be so hard.
| C/G C6 | C7/G |
I’m going back to the start.

Instrumental 2 (3:52)

Outro (4:19)

||: Dm7 | Bb | F (Fsus4) | F (Fsus4) :||
Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh.
Ah ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh.
Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh.
Oh ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh.

The Scientist’s chords and progressions

In most piano players’ favorite key of F, these are the chords during the intro/verse: VI – IV – I.

||: Dm7 | Bb (Bbadd9) | F | Fsus2 :||

The chorus progression is simple, using only chords IV – I on repeat, finishing on V, with its 5th in the bass.

||: Bb | Bb | F | Fsus2 :||
| C/G | C/G |

The instrumental section has just two chords.

||: F | Bb (Bbadd9) | F | Fsus2 :||

Finally, the outro introduces a sus4 which is achieved by the guitar bending from the 3rd to the sus4.

||: Dm7 | Bb | F (Fsus4) | F (Fsus4) :||

Coldplay and playing in an open-tuning

The Scientist is a single from the band Coldplay. The song has a great music video, telling the storyline backward.

Originally composed and performed on the piano, this one guitar arrangement uses an open tuning, something Coldplay do well, especially on their first (and in my opinion best) album Parachutes.

By allowing the top two strings (tuned to C and F) to be a part of every chord we get different extensions for the chords that are unique and bind the chord progression together. This is a similar technique to how Wonderwall is arranged.

In the video lessons, you’ll see all chords played for the entire song using an open tuning, these are not 100% correct, but rather an effect of what can happen when you detune and create your own version.

Many artists have based their arrangements, and sometimes entire sets, upon open tunings. John Martyn, Nick Drake, Joni Mitchel, and Ani Difranco have all created signature sounds with their tunings, sometimes ending up with one tuning per song!

If you feel this could be the way forward for you, start by changing only one or two strings. This will ensure you have a chance to know what’s happening on the fretboard.

Once the open-tuning bug has bitten, it might never let go!

The Scientist music video

Even though Coldplay claims to have written The Scientist collectively, the basic progression and melody were written by Chris Martin after he had been working on a George Harrison cover.

All great songs deserve a good music video and in The Scientist, we certainly get that!

The music video went on to win three awards at the MTV video awards, mainly down to its narrative being told in reverse.

This genius music video for The Scientist, directed by Jamie Thraves starts off with Chris Martin singing the first verse on a mattress in a London suburb, but we quickly enter reverse mode.

As Chris sings in sync and the world is backward the story of what happened is told backward.

To pull such an effect off Chris Martin would have to sing the song backward!

The effect was previously used in the 1996 video Drop by The Pharcyde (Spike Jones).